Budget Friendly Meal Prep Ideas

Planning, preparing, and portioning your meals ahead of time is one of the most effective tools for keeping your food budget in check. We have over a hundred budget-friendly meal prep ideas to keep your taste buds happy, your belly full, and your budget on track! New to meal prepping? Check out our Meal Prep 101 before you begin.

Looking for pre-made meal plans? With a Budget Bytes+ membership, you’ll get a brand-new meal plan every week—designed to save you time, money, and stress in the kitchen (plus more)!

This Cheeseburger Meatloaf Meal Prep is an easy American classic meal that you'll look forward to each day. Toss the TV dinners and make your own! Budgetbytes.com

Popular Meal Prep Recipes

Smoky Chicken and Cinnamon Roasted Sweet Potato Meal Prep

$9.43 recipe / $2.36 serving

Four glass meal prep containers lined up with roasted vegetable couscous. Two with chicken and two with chickpeas

Roasted Vegetable Couscous Meal Prep

$12.01 recipe / $4.00 serving

Three glass containers filled with hummus lunch box ingredients

The Hummus Lunch Box

$8.04 recipe / $2.01 serving

Cold Peanut Noodle Salad

$5.30 recipe / $1.33 serving

Ground Turkey Stir Fry

$8.05 recipe / $1.61 serving

Meal Prep Ideas for an Easy Breakfast

Newest Budget Friendly Meal Prep Ideas

Vegetable Fried Rice

$4.22 recipe / $1.06 serving

Vegetable Fried Rice is a fast, easy, delicious, and budget-friendly meal that you can whip up with ingredients on hand at any time!

Overhead view of a BBQ chicken foil packet.

BBQ Chicken Foil Packs

$10.45 recipe / $2.61 serving

These easy BBQ Chicken Foil Packs are a complete grill-or-oven dinner with chicken thighs, potatoes, peppers, onions, and tangy BBQ sauce!

Lentil Salad

$7.29 recipe / $1.22 serving

This easy Lentil Salad is bright, flavorful, and infused with bold flavors like garlic and lemon. Eat it as a side dish, meal prep it, or make it a meal!

Overhead view of a bowl of slow cooker chicken ramen with a soy marinated egg.

Slow Cooker Chicken and Vegetables Ramen

$12.03 recipe / $1.50 serving

This Slow Cooker Chicken and Vegetables Ramen transforms a couple of ramen packs into a big-batch dinner with tender chicken and fresh vegetables.

Overhead view of a selection of packed bento lunchboxes with a childs hand taking some cheese.

5 Back-to-School Lunches

Need fresh lunch ideas? These 5 Back-to-School Lunches feature simple, affordable bento box ideas packed with kid-friendly foods they'll actually eat!

Skillet Pizza Casserole

$12.31 recipe / $2.05 serving

This cheesy Skillet Pizza Casserole recipe combines saucy pasta, Italian sausage, veggies, pepperoni, and melty mozzarella in one easy pan dinner!

Easy Kale Salad

$5.90 recipe / $1.48 serving

This easy Kale Salad is tangy, sweet, and crunchy with Granny Smith apples, walnuts, raisins, and a homemade Dijon vinaigrette.

Bruschetta Chicken

$5.93 serving / $1.48 recipe

This easy Bruschetta Chicken recipe tops juicy pan-seared chicken with melty mozzarella, fresh tomatoes, basil, and balsamic glaze in just 25 minutes.

Baked Chicken Drumsticks

$4.37 recipe / $0.73 serving

These easy Baked Chicken Drumsticks need just 5 minutes of prep, pantry seasonings, and one sheet pan for juicy chicken with beautifully browned skin.

Buffalo Chicken Stuffed Peppers

$11.45 recipe / $1.91 serving

This Buffalo Chicken Stuffed Peppers recipe is loaded with tender chicken, spicy buffalo sauce, cheddar, and blue cheese. An easy AND delicious dinner!

Cold Sesame Noodles

$6.11 recipe / $1.53 serving

These Cold Sesame Noodles are an easy, light noodle salad with spaghetti, crisp veggies, toasted sesame oil, soy sauce, lime, and sriracha!

Chicken Shawarma

$10.05 recipe / $2.51 serving

A magical blend of yogurt, lemon, garlic, and warm spices makes this homemade Chicken Shawarma tender, flavorful, and perfect for wraps, bowls, salads, or meal prep.